Madoka's Saviours
by VeryBerry96
Summary: Homura has been called by Madoka to travel to America to fight the distortions that appeared after the witches were destroyed. She has no idea why Madoka wants her there, but when she meets someone else who remembers what the world used to be like, she starts to understand. Set after the original series. OC. Rated T cause I'm paranoid.
1. Prologue

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: So I finished re-watching Puella Magi Madoka Magica today, and I had a fanfiction idea while I was taking the dog for a walk afterwards. This may not be the best idea for me to post this now as I do have two other stories in progress on here which I really want to get finished, plus I have exams in a few months which I'll be studying for a lot, so this story may be neglected a bit and might not be updated all that often, but I just really wanted to start writing this and get it up! This is what happens when I have an idea :-P**

**I really hope you all like this story! It is set after the original series, so if you've not finished watching it then I wouldn't recommend reading this unless you really don't mind spoilers. And I mean **_**BIG **_**spoilers that aren't revealed until the very last episode. Also, I've not seen any of the other Puella Magi shows or movies so this story won't reference anything from them.**

**Please read and review! All comments and criticisms welcome!**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Puella Magi Madoka Magica or any of the characters from that show. I do own my OCs and you may not use them without my permission.**

* * *

**Prologue **

They had been fighting this witch for what felt like hours. Nothing seemed to be working. All five of the magical girls had used almost every trick they had, but this witch wasn't backing down or even getting weaker.

Julie and Maya were already visibly drained. Their attacks were hardly doing anything to the witch; they seemed to be hurting themselves more than the creature they were fighting. Julie's brown beret had fallen off somewhere in the midst of the fight causing her shoulder-length brown hair to fall messily around her face, caked in blood. Maya's dark skin was covered in cuts and bruises, and the skirt of her dark blue knee-length dress was ripped to shreds.

Tessa and Anastasia were down, having been yelled at by the others to stop using magic. The girls were all out of grief seeds and Tessa and Anastasia's soul gems had been quite muddy before they'd even started fighting. None of the girls wanted to take the risk of their soul gems turning completely dark, even though they didn't know what would happen if they did. Because of this Tessa and Anastasia were holding themselves up against a wall in the labyrinth, yelling at the other three girls when the witch got close.

Sammy, although still considerably weaker than she had been at the start of the fight, was the strongest of the five and the only one still in a reasonable condition to fight. She drew a line in front of her with her staff creating a row of fireballs before whacking them at the witch using her staff like a baseball bat. She then waved it in a circle above her head creating a small army of black clouds and making a powerful wind to blow them over to above the witch. Lightning struck the witch at the same time as the fireballs, causing it to be hidden behind a smokescreen for a few moments. Sammy drew her staff back, waiting to get a better aim once the smoke cleared, not wanting to miss and hit one of the other magical girls by accident.

Unfortunately the witch seemed to have a better aim, or be able to see through the smoke, as it struck out with its tentacles and hit the four girls already weak before striking Sammy causing her to slam into the wall next to Tessa and Anastasia. Julie and Maya flew into the wall just after her.

All five girls were now on their knees, panting and covered in blood. None of them were able to hold themselves up on their hands and knees for long, all the strength they had now sapped out of them. They all fell to the floor.

Sammy could see the life seeping from her four friends. Maya's eyes were already closed and Tessa's skin was even paler than usual. Anastasia had fallen with her back to Sammy so she couldn't see her face, but she could hear her panting heavily. From where she was lying she could see Maya's dark blue soul gem on her armlet was turning black, an indication that she was losing hope that they could win this fight. Sammy could only presume that her other friends' soul gems looked the same.

Sammy was now battling her closing eyelids. She could see the witch slowly approaching them, a terrifying grin on its distorted face.

"I guess this is it," Sammy murmured quietly.

Julie, who was lying next to her, strained to lift her head. "Sammy, I'm so sorry," she sniffed, starting to cry. "If I'd been stronger then I could've helped more…"

Sammy moved her hand to lay it over Julie's. "Jules, this isn't your fault," she smiled weakly. "This is none of our faults. This witch was just too strong. We probably shouldn't have even fought when Tessa and Stasia's soul gems were already mucky. If it _is _any of our faults then it's mine. I'm the one who pushed us to go find the witch."

Julie found the strength to shake her head slowly. "You were just being a good leader," she murmured quietly, her eyes starting to close. "And don't worry…I have no regrets about making a contract…"

Her eyes closed fully. Sammy squeezed her hand, starting to sob quietly herself. She didn't like to show any weakness in front of the girls as she was the most experienced having made a contract before the others and she had to be a role-model to them. But even she couldn't hide her fear when death was imminent.

Just as her eyelids were winning the fight, a pink light flashed in front of Sammy's eyes. As much as she wanted to open her eyes to see what it was, she just couldn't. As her eyes closed over she heard a kind voice speaking softly.

"Don't worry; it's gonna be alright. I won't let you die."


	2. Chapter 1 - Remember

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: This chapter is dedicated to MsAmiClassifed and Markus Ramikin.**

**This is actually the first time I've written a story in third person, so any feedback to do with that would be greatly appreciated. Actually, all and any feedback would be greatly appreciated, so please read and review!**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Puella Magi Madoka Magica or any characters from the original series. I do however own my OCs and they may not be used without my permission.**

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**Chapter 1 - Remember**

Homura Akemi pulled her coat tighter around her. Why of all places did Madoka have to send her here? She could cope with the desert; she was fine in the desert. The heat she could handle. The freezing cold she could not. She had been hiking through these thick woods for the past half an hour and even though the sun was out it was anything but warm, and there was still quite a thick layer of snow on the ground.

Madoka hadn't spoken to Homura in a while; not since she had been fighting the distortions in the Taklimakan Desert in China and she had told her to do her best. But a few nights ago, in the midst of a fight alongside Mami and Kyoko back in Japan, Madoka had spoken to her again. Homura had blacked out and suddenly Madoka was there.

"M…Madoka?" Homura had stammered, not expecting to see her best friend.

Madoka giggled. "Hi Homura. Sorry, I know this is kinda unexpected."

Homura gaped up at her friend. She looked amazing. She was wearing a beautiful white dress which flowed right down to her ankles, and her feet were bare. She had on small white gloves which stopped half way between her wrists and elbows. Her pink hair was longer than it was when Madoka had left, and was tied up in her signature style with two white ribbons. She looked like a bride on her wedding day.

"You look so…" Homura couldn't find the words.

Madoka laughed again. "Thanks. But I'm afraid this isn't a call just to talk. This is really important."

Madoka opened her hand, palm facing up, and a ball of light appeared. In it Homura could see the image of a snowy forest.

"It's in Alaska in America," Madoka told her. "There's a group of magical girls there trying to fight the distortions and they need your help."

Madoka closed her hand and the ball of light disappeared. Homura frowned.

"Why do they need _my_ help?" she asked. "Why not Mami or Kyoko? Or any other magical girl for that matter?"

Madoka smiled. "I don't want to say too much; it would spoil the surprise."

Homura sighed, but smiled back. "What're you like Madoka?"

Madoka winked. "Close your eyes."

Homura complied and closed her eyes. When she opened them she was lying on the floor with Mami and Kyoko standing over her looking worried sick.

Homura had told them that she knew about a large breakout of the distortions in Alaska and she was going to help out other magical girls. Kyoko had asked how she knew but Mami had told her to drop it. Even though neither of them remembered Madoka, Mami seemed to understand better than Kyoko that Homura seemed to know things that they wouldn't understand.

Kyubey had offered to go with her, but Homura had said no, saying he should stay with Kyoko and Mami. She had gotten the first plane she could to Alaska, which was a few days later, and that brought her to where she was now; still hiking through the woods in the snow.

She would never admit it to anyone, but she was scared. She was in a foreign country where she didn't know anyone. She didn't even speak the native language; English was always her worst subject at school.

She had come to a huge tree. She propped her arm up against it to rest for a moment, breathing heavily.

"Homura Akemi?"

Homura quickly looked up to see where the voice had come from. There was a girl with short copper-coloured hair perched on a branch a few meters above her. She was wearing a lilac puffer jacket and white snow boots, clearly better prepared for the weather than Homura was with her regular school uniform, only a thin coat protecting her from the cold.

"How do you know my name? Who are you?" she asked.

The girl smiled before jumping down and landing next to Homura. "Name's Sammy," she introduced herself. "Madoka told me you'd be coming."

Homura was taken aback. "Madoka? You know Madoka?"

Sammy nodded. "She said you would be surprised."

She dusted away the snow underneath the tree with her boot before sitting down and motioning for Homura to sit next to her. "You must be tired hiking all the way up here. Have a seat and I'll explain everything."

Homura nodded and sat next to her.

"I'm one of four magical girls that protect this area," Sammy began, brushing some of her hair out of her bright blue eyes. "There used to be five of us but one of us was lost during a fight about a year ago."

Homura sighed. "I'm so sorry," she sympathised. "I know what it's like to lose a comrade."

Sammy shook her head. "No need to apologise. Anyway, the five of us fighting a really powerful witch one day about a year ago and…"

Homura's eyes shot up to meet Sammy's. "Wait, a witch? You remember the witches?"

Sammy smiled. "Yeah, I do. I thought I was the only one at first, but then Madoka told me about you a few days ago."

Homura stayed quiet to allow Sammy to continue with her story, but she was clearly shocked.

"This witch was beating the crap out of us. We were all on our last legs. I could see Maya's soul gem turning black. I was terrified. I was about to pass out when I saw a bright pink flash and heard a voice saying it wouldn't let us die. The next thing I knew this beautiful girl was standing in front of me in a frilly pink dress and two pink ribbons in her hair. She looked so kind. She told me her name was Madoka and that she was going to rid the world of witches. She said that nobody else would remember about them though. I asked her why I would be the only one to remember. She winked at me and said it was a secret, but I had to trust her."

Homura smiled slightly. "That does sound like Madoka."

"When I came to," Sammy continued, "Anastasia, one of the other magical girls, was standing over me making sure I was okay. The other girls were fighting these new 'distortion' things. I did ask Stasia later on if she had ever heard of a witch but she thought I was talking about the things people dress up as at Halloween. I realised Madoka was right; nobody else remembered."

Sammy looked back up at Homura. "So when Madoka spoke to me again a few nights ago and told me you were coming and that you also remembered the witches, I was pretty excited. I was just really glad I wasn't alone anymore."

Homura smiled again. "I'm glad too. Nobody else knows about Madoka or the witches; I've never had anyone to talk to about her…"

Her head shot up as she realised something. "How come you speak Japanese? I didn't think anyone here would understand me."

Sammy grinned, looking embarrassed. "Honestly? My friends and I are all a teeny bit obsessed with anime. We all helped each other learn Japanese when we were younger so we could watch them without the subtitles."

Homura chuckled. "As good a reason as any I suppose."

Sammy stood up and dusted the snow off the back of her legs, holding her hand out to Homura to help her up. "Come on, the others have been waiting to meet you. I told them you were coming as soon as Madoka told me."

Homura took her hand and Sammy hauled her up. "So, they know about Madoka?" Homura asked.

Sammy shook her head. "No, they don't know anything about her." She shrugged. "I guess I just wanted to keep it to myself. They kinda know that I have a 'source' as Tessa put it, but they've never asked anything about it."

Homura nodded, accepting her explanation, and Sammy grinned again.

"Well, we ain't getting any warmer just standing here! Let's go!"

She turned and led the way through the thick forest. Homura followed closely behind her not wanting to get lost.

"Where exactly are we going?" she asked.

Sammy turned round to face Homura, walking backwards. "It's a tree-house me and the girls made with our dads when we were kids. We used to use it as a clubhouse. Now it's out base where we sort out all our magical girl stuff and were we know we can all regroup if we get separated during a fight."

Homura grinned. "A clubhouse?"

Sammy laughed and held her hands up in surrender. "Hey, we were just kids! You never made silly little clubs with your friends?"

Homura's face fell slightly. "I had a heart condition when I was a kid. I didn't really have any friends."

Sammy bit her lip. "I'm really sorry…I didn't mean to bring up anything bad."

Homura shook her head. "It's fine, honest. You didn't know."

Despite her reassurance, Sammy still felt guilty.

Suddenly Sammy stopped walking. Homura stopped behind her and looked around before spotting a wooden structure high up in the trees. Sammy followed her gaze and grinned.

The tree-house was pretty big as far as tree houses go. It was made out of dark wood which blended in fairly well with the pine trees of the forest, and the roof had been scattered with pine needles to camouflage it from the air. It wasn't paranoia; some of the distortions were pretty tall and could see over the top of the tall trees, and thankfully when it came to common sense they didn't really have any so covering the roof of the tree-house with pine needles was pretty much enough for them to leave it alone.

Sammy put two fingers in her mouth and whistled loudly. Almost immediately a rope ladder dropped down from the tree-house. She grabbed hold of it and began to climb it. Half way up she turned back to Homura.

"Wait till I'm off it before you start to climb," she warned her. "This thing can't really handle more than one person's weight."

Homura nodded and Sammy continued to climb up the ladder. Once she reached the top she disappeared into the tree-house before sticking her head back up and motioning for Homura to climb up. Homura took a deep breath and began to climb the ladder.


	3. Chapter 2 - Meetings

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: This chapter is dedicated to ClanCC, DappledKarma and madohomu0111.**

**Hope you enjoy this chapter! Please read and review!**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Puella Magi Madoka Magica or any of the characters originally from that show. I do own my OCs.**

* * *

**Chapter 2 - Meetings**

By the time Homura pulled herself up the ladder Sammy was already at the other side of the room warming her hands up next to a small space heater. Three other girls were there already, two of them in long-sleeved jumpers and jeans. The other one, a perky looking girl with short, curly orange hair who was smaller than the others was curled up on a bashed up couch reading a magazine. Instead of wearing clothes that would be more suited to the freezing weather, she had on denim shorts with knee length grey socks and a green vest top with a blue hoodie over it only zipped half way up. She didn't even look cold.

By this point Homura was standing in the doorway of the tree house andthe other girls had all looked up. There was a girl with dark skin sitting on the floor next to the couch. She had on a dark blue chunky jumper and her black hair, so dark it almost looked navy blue, was cropped short on one side and longer on the other. The other girl was leaning against the wall next to the space heater with her arms folded over her chest. She had shoulder length dark red hair and was wearing a green V-neck jumper with a white vest underneath it. Sammy had removed her lilac puffer jacket, tossing it on an old arm chair in the corner, and had on underneath it a fluffy white jumper. She had also kicked off her snow boots and was now kneeling next to the space heater in thick black socks.

The small girl reading the magazine grinned up at Homura, bouncing off the couch towards her.

"So you're the Japanese girl," she smiled cheerfully. "Homura something, right?"

Homura nodded. "Homura Akemi. It's nice to meet you."

She bowed politely, as was the norm in Japan. The girl seemed to get great amusement out of this though, squealing and jumping about, turning to face Sammy and the red head.

"She bowed! She's like a real Japanese person!"

The girl sitting on the floor rolled her eyes. "Tessa, she _is _a real Japanese person."

Tessa pouted. "Maya! Don't spoil it!"

Sammy smirked and stood up straight. "Come on you guys. You'll scare her away."

She motioned for Homura to come over. "Come over and warm up. You must be freezing."

Homura nodded and waked over, crouching down and pressing her hands against it. The heat was a relief after the bitter cold outside.

Tessa crouched down next to Homura. "So, you get here alright? It must have been a long flight. You get jet lag? Jet lag's the worst. I went to London a few years ago with my mom and my body clock was messed up for days…"

"Tessa," the red head finally spoke quietly. "Leave her alone. She'll be tired."

Homura smiled gratefully at the red head before Tessa huffed.

"Okay Stasia," she sighed, standing up and stretching before throwing herself back down on the couch.

Homura stood back up and the red head bowed.

"My name's Anastasia," she said. "But everyone just calls me Stasia. It's nice to meet you."

Homura bowed back. "Homura Akemi. It's nice to meet you too."

They both straightened back up and the darker girl sitting on the floor also stood up.

"I guess if everyone else is introducing themselves…" she smiled kindly, also bowing. "I'm Maya. Nice to meet you."

Homura returned the greeting. Tessa sat up properly on the couch and patted the seat next to her, indicating to Homura to sit down. She complied and smiled gratefully, sinking into the well-worn seat. Sammy flopped down in the chair she'd thrown her jacket on. Anastasia went back to leaning on the wall and Maya sat back down on the floor next to the couch.

"So, you're here to help us fight the distortions right?" Tessa asked.

Homura nodded. "Yes, that's what I was sent to do."

"Sent by who?" Tessa asked, innocently enough.

Homura wasn't sure what to say, so she was very grateful when Sammy answered for her.

"I asked her to come. Beebe got in contact with one of the incubators over there and he sent Homura," she lied quickly, subtly winking at Homura.

Homura smiled gratefully, but then frowned. "Beebe?"

"The incubator we all made a contract with," Maya explained.

"You called?"

All five girls turned their heads to the door and saw a silhouette identical to Kyubey standing there. As it approached them Homura could see that it looked identical to Kyubey too, except its fur was black rather than white. It tilted its head when it saw Homura, but it caught Sammy's eye who gave her head a slight shake.

It turned back to face Homura. "You're one of the magical girls from Japan aren't you?" it asked, its mouth not moving. "Is Kyubey your contractor?"

Homura nodded, and the black incubator padded over to the couch before curling up on Maya's lap and closing its eyes. "I'll be right back," it said before it stopped moving altogether.

Tessa frowned and leaned over the side of the couch to prod it with her finger. "How come she stopped moving?" she asked, her orange bangs hanging messily over her eyes.

"She's talking to another incubator," Maya explained. "She's done this before when she's been at my place."

Homura looked down at Beebe and frowned. She still didn't entirely trust Kyubey, even though he didn't remember anything he'd done to the girls before the witches disappeared. She knew she'd find it very difficult to trust anything that looked like or acted like the little white cat-like creature.

Beebe's eyes shot open and she sat up in Maya's lap, looking up at Homura.

"Understood. You're here to help fight the distortions. Kyubey said Kyoko and Mami can handle the fights back there fine by themselves so you're not to worry."

Homura nodded and muttered her thanks. Beebe jumped up onto the couch next to Tessa and curled up next to her. Tessa scratched her behind her ears and she crooned. Homura turned away, uncomfortable at watching the incubator interact with these girls like she was their pet. Anastasia noticed and frowned but didn't say anything.

Homura spoke properly for the first time since Beebe had arrived. "How bad is the situation over here with the distortions?"

Sammy sighed, leaning forward in her seat. "Pretty bad. It's gotten worse the past few months though. They're starting to appear closer to town now which makes it harder to fight them without being spotted. We've had to start driving them away from town before we can actually fight them. It can be pretty tiring."

Homura nodded, taking all this information in. "Have you any idea where they're coming from? Are there any links in the times they appear?"

"I can't say if there are any links," Maya spoke up, "but Stasia found out where they're coming from."

Homura looked over at Anastasia who still hadn't moved from her spot leaning against the wall, her arms still folded over her chest. She'd had her eyes closed while she listened and she still didn't open them now.

"I was in the forest by myself," she began, "walking to the tree-house from school. I saw a distortion wandering alone and decided to follow it. I didn't transform though."

She opened her eyes and pushed herself off the wall, her arms still folded.

"I followed it to a cave. I transformed then so I'd have a light source. I have a whip which creates balls of light when I crack it. I snuck down the tunnels of the cave and I found a huge cavern about a hundred metres in from the cave entrance. There was some weird purple portal there, and the cavern was full of the distortions. Thousands of them. I couldn't see clearly because I couldn't crack my whip to make light in case the distortions heard me, but it looked like there was more of them coming out of the portal."

"Would you be able to lead us back there?" Homura asked.

Anastasia shook her head, now standing next to the couch where Tessa and Homura were sitting, both of them listening intently, even though Tessa had presumably heard this story before.

"I wanted to be sure that the distortions were actually coming out of the portal and it wasn't my eyes playing tricks on me, so I cracked the whip very quietly to try and see. It created a very faint light that only lasted a few seconds, and it didn't help me be able to see if I was right, but a distortion only a few meters away from me heard the crack. They started to chase me out of the cave so I ran out as fast as I could. I managed to get out just before they did and I used my whip to make the rocks above the mouth of the cave fall down to block it. I waited to check that the distortions couldn't get out before I ran back to the tree-house. Sammy and Julie were already here and I explained what had happened. It's not normal for one of us to turn up in our magical girl clothes unless we've all been out fighting."

Homura frowned and looked at Sammy. "Julie?"

She could hear Tessa sigh quietly behind her and saw Maya's shoulders and head drop slightly.

"Julie was the fifth magical girl I told you about," Sammy explained, the fun glimmer in her eye that Homura had grown to recognise in the past hour or so fading slightly as she spoke of her dead comrade.

Homura nodded, knowing that they probably wouldn't want to talk about it. She knew how Kyoko reacted if either she or Mami brought up Sayaka.

"So how have the numbers of distortions around here increased if they were trapped in the cave?" Homura asked, quickly bringing the conversation back to where it had been originally.

"We went with Stasia to check out the cave when we all got here," Tessa explained. "The entrance she used was still blocked so we figured there was either another entrance or the distortions could teleport themselves wherever they wanted to go."

"We searched the area but we couldn't find another entrance," Maya continued. "We even transformed and battered the trees and hills near the original opening, but we found nothing."

"So we figured that they must have been teleporting themselves out, since we'd seen a few milling about while we'd been running to the cave," Sammy finished. "Then we thought that maybe they weren't just transporting themselves to the area surrounding the cave."

"There were literally thousands of the distortions in the cavern," Anastasia added. "There was no way all of them could be for invading our town, or even for invading Alaska. There was far too many of them for that. So I asked Beebe if there had been any outbreaks of distortions anywhere else in the world."

Beebe sat up and nodded. "There had been a rapid increase in the population of the distortions in Ireland, South Africa and India around the same time that Anastasia found the cave," she reported. "I shared the girls' findings with other incubators around the world and they agreed that we should investigate further."

Beebe looked like she was going to say more but Sammy interrupted her. "That was when I asked you to come," she said, keeping up the excuse she'd made for her earlier. "We were hoping you could help us destroy the portal. If we do that we should be able to limit the number of distortions getting out, if not stop them altogether."

Homura nodded. "I promise I'll help any way I can."

Sammy smiled, as did Maya and Anastasia. Tessa stood up off the couch and stretched, glancing out the window.

"Guys, it's getting dark," she pointed out. "We'd better get going."

Everyone else stood up from where they were sitting and started to get their warm clothes and shoes back on, except for Tessa who just stayed in her shorts and hoodie. She did however grab a pale green puffer jacket similar to Sammy's and passed it to Homura.

"Here," she grinned. "I don't need it."

Homura was hesitant to take it, even though she knew she'd be freezing if she had to go outside again with just her thin coat on. "Are you sure?"

Maya chuckled behind them. "Tessa's from a tiny town in northern Canada originally. She only moved here a few years ago. She actually finds it warm here in comparison to where she used to live."

Homura turned back to Tessa, her eyes wide. How could she find this weather warm?!

Tessa grinned and shrugged. "What can I say? I'm a freak of nature!" she laughed. "My family are originally from Scotland. I think we're bred to manage the cold."

Homura smiled as she zipped up the jacket Tessa had given her. These girls had only known her for a few minutes but they seemed to have already accepted her. After all, they _were _all in the same boat; they were all magical girls, although from what Homura could see Sammy was the only one who really understood what she was going through even to a small extent.

The girls started to climb down the rope ladder one by one. Maya went first, with Beebe perched on her shoulders, then Tessa practically slid down, followed by Anastasia who climbed down normally, rolling her eyes slightly at Tessa's hyperness. Sammy gestured for Homura to go before her and she compiled. Sammy turned off the heater and the lights before following the other girls down the ladder.

It had gotten dark really quickly. Homura spent most of the walk through the forest with her head tilted back trying to catch a glimpse of the night sky through the tree tops. She never saw that many stars in the city back home, but since there weren't any large cities or towns in this area the sky was clear of clouds and pollutants and the stars could shine brightly. Homura secretly wondered if Madoka was looking down on her from those stars.

They all walked together through the forest, weaving through the pine trees until they reached a small dirt road. When they reached this road Maya, Tessa and Anastasia all said their goodbyes and turned left, Beebe still sitting on Maya's shoulder.

"You wanna come stay at my house?" Sammy asked after they'd waved goodbye to the other girls.

"Are you sure your parents won't mind?" Homura asked. "I can just sleep in the tree-house; I don't mind."

Sammy shook her head. "My mom won't mind. She won't ask any questions either. She doesn't speak Japanese though so I'll have to translate everything."

Homura still looked worried. "I really don't want to be any trouble…"

Sammy rolled her eyes and grabbed Homura's hand, turning right along the road and pulling her along. "Come on. I'm not taking no for an answer!"

She turned back around and smiled gently. "Plus I'm sure you still have loads of questions, right?"

Homura smiled back and nodded, grateful that she had found friends in this strange new country, and she followed Sammy along the road.


	4. Chapter 3 - Contracts

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: …**

**Hi. *waves***

**So yeah…I'm still here. I've not been eaten by wolves or been contracted and had my soul ripped out by Kyubey or anything. To be honest, I kinda forgot I'd started this story till I was looking at my traffic graph one day and was all, "Madoka's Saviours? What be this? Oh yes, that story I began to write which I haven't updated in 3 MONTHS."**

**My excuses could range from exam stress to other story commitments to pure laziness but the truth is that I had no freaking idea of what to do with this story for about a month so I just left it alone in the corner to gather dust and grow questionable looking mushrooms on it. Somehow though people are still finding this story and reading it, so I feel like I owe it to all of you to actually try and get a story out of this thing. **

**I am one of those people who get very annoyed if someone starts a story and doesn't finish it so to avoid becoming my own pet peeve I am going to get this story done one way or another. I now have a fairly clear(ish) of how this story is going to end; however I'm not 100% (or even 50%) sure on how to get there from where the story is at this point in time. SO. If you have any ideas about this story, even if it sounds pants, PLEASE let me know either in a review or in a private message. **

**Anyway, one excessively long AN later, here is said chapter you have all (probably not) been waiting for! Sorry for the annoyingly long wait. Oh, and if it's been so long since I updated that you've forgotten what's already happened, here's a quick rundown: Homura's gone to Alaska where there's a group of four other Magical Girls to help them fight those distortion things (which I have since found out have a different name but WTH I'm sticking to it). **

**This chapter is mostly backstory, but I promise more interesting stuff will happen soon.**

**And if you're still reading this AN 362 words later then props to you.**

**This chapter is dedicated to Markus Ramikin, MsAmiClassified, LinkinYM and Jebli.**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Puella Magi Madoka Magica or its characters. I do own my OCs.**

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**Chapter 3 - Contracts**

Sammy lived right on the edge of town, and there were no other houses near it, so the two girls didn't pass anyone on their walk after they'd split away from Maya, Tessa, Anastasia and Beebe. They were quiet for the most part, Homura still walking with her head tilted back to gaze at the stars and Sammy having to make sure she guided her new friend properly so she didn't walk into a lamppost.

Soon the house appeared round the corner. It was quite small; only on one floor and from the looks of the outside it must have only had a few rooms. It was painted white, and Homura wondered for a moment if Sammy or her mother sometimes couldn't see it if they were walking back from the main part of town and it was snowing heavily.

"Well, here we are!" Sammy announced, finally letting go of Homura's hand. "It's not much, but I like it!"

Homura shook her head. "It's lovely!" she assured her, thinking back to the apartment which she lived in by herself back in Tokyo. "I'm still worried that your mother might be annoyed though."

Sammy sighed. "I already told you, she'll be fine with you staying! We have a spare room anyway, and she likes the house being lively. She's always telling me to have the girls around."

Homura frowned, still uncertain. Sammy ignored her and pushed open the door, motioning for Homura to follow her and, even though she was still hesitant about staying at Sammy's house, she walked in quickly, eager to get out of the cold especially as the snow was starting to fall again.

Sammy shut the door behind them, and Homura resisted the urge to run over to the radiator and push her hands and cheeks up against it. Sammy pulled her coat off and hung it on a coat-hanger above the radiator before Homura did the same, also kicking off her shoes as was normal to do in Japan. Sammy noticed and copied her, not wanting Homura to feel alienated.

"Mom! I'm home!" Sammy called out in English. "And I brought a friend!"

"I'm in the kitchen!" a woman called back.

Sammy smiled and nodded to Homura before walking down the small hallway towards the second door on the left. Homura quickly followed after her.

In the kitchen there was a young woman standing over a stove stirring a pot of something steaming. Homura inhaled deeply; it smelt amazing. She had the same copper coloured hair as Sammy but it was longer, reaching the middle of her back. She had a few loose bits pulled back off her forehead with a lilac hairband. She also shared the same bright green eyes as her daughter. She turned to Homura and smiled.

"Hello! I've not seen you around here before. I'm Emma, Sammy's mom. What's your name?"

Homura just stood there, her hands clasped in front of her looking down. Sammy nudged her mother.

"Mom, she's from Japan. She doesn't know a whole lot of English," she explained quietly.

Emma raised an eyebrow but apart from that her facial expression didn't change. "Well, could you tell her what I said then?"

Sammy nodded and turned to Homura. "This is my mom," she said in Japanese. "Her name's Emma. She asked what your name is."

Homura glanced up at Emma and bowed. "N...nice to meet you," she said in shaky English. "My name is Homura Akemi."

Emma smiled again and bowed back, knowing that it was custom in Japan even if she didn't know as much about the culture as her daughter did.

Sammy turned back to her mom. "Is it alright if Homura crashes here for a few nights?" she asked. "She's here for a while and doesn't have anywhere else to stay."

"Of course it's alright!" Emma replied. "You guys head to your room Sammy. I'll bring you some soup then I'll make up the guest room."

Sammy grinned and hugged Emma around the waist. "Thank you mom!"

She turned back to Homura, still grinning. "She said you can stay!" she translated. "Told you she'd be fine with it!"

Homura smiled back and bowed to Emma again. "Thank you very much!" she said, her English sounding slightly more confident than earlier.

Emma smiled. "You're very welcome."

Sammy grabbed Homura's hand and pulled her out of the kitchen before walking back down the hallway and going into the room on the right hand side of the front door. She flicked on the light and closed her door before flopping down on the bed.

Homura looked around. Sammy's bedroom was really small, but it was cosy. Her small bed with cream coloured bed sheets took up one side of the room. The other side held a wooden desk littered with various papers and knick-knacks – most of them anime related, Homura noticed – a computer chair even though there wasn't a computer in sight, and a wooden chest of drawers.

Sammy pulled herself up from her face-down position on her bed and sat up properly, patting the cover next to her for Homura to sit down. She complied with a smile and sunk down onto the comfortable bed.

"Your mother's very kind," Homura said.

Sammy rolled her eyes and flopped down on her back. "You should see her when she gets angry."

Homura chuckled. "I can't see that happening very often."

"Well, that's true," Sammy agreed. "And don't worry, she won't ask any questions. She'll just take it that you're staying here for the foreseeable future and she'll start cooking for three instead of two."

Homura smiled again. "Well, I'm very grateful."

Soon Emma knocked on the door by kicking it gently, holding a tray carrying two steaming bowls of soup and two tall glasses of lemonade. She set the tray down on the desk before winking to the two girls and walking back out of the room, shutting the door behind her. Sammy had jumped before her mother had even left the room and was practically throwing Homura her soup and juice before digging into her own.

"Thanks mom!" she called loudly with a mouth full of soup.

Homura laughed lightly again before also beginning to eat. It was a vegetable soup, very warming, and to Homura it tasted like home.

Sammy plopped back down on the bed, her spoon still in her mouth, reminding Homura of how Kyoko would walk around with Pocky sticking out of her mouth.

"This is gooooooood!" Sammy declared.

Homura nodded in agreement. "Your mother is a really good cook."

They ate the rest of the meal mostly in silence. Once they were done they took the bowls and glasses through to the kitchen before heading back to Sammy's room to talk. They both sat back down on Sammy's bed, Sammy pulling her knees up to her chest.

"I was the first one out of up to make a contract with Beebe," Sammy began without any prompting by Homura. "My wish was pretty stupid in hindsight. My dog was dying and Beebe said she could heal him. She did, and my dog was fine for a while, but she got hit by a car a few months later." Sammy shrugged sadly. "I'm glad I got a few more months with her though.

"Anastasia was next. I didn't know her very well before hand. I knew she went to my school but so do hundreds of other kids. We ran into each other in the forest when we were chasing the same familiar, although by Stasia's recollection we were chasing a distortion. She never told me what wish she made though.

"Tessa and Maya both made contracts at the same time. They're neighbours and were sharing a taxi to get to school one day when they were late. It crashed off the road cause it was really icy. Beebe found them and they both wished that they wouldn't die. They both woke up in hospital with soul gems. I was friends with Tessa, and Stasia knew Maya really well from elementary school, so we both went to go visit them. That was when we found out they were now Magical Girls. We decided to make the tree-house that me, Tessa and out friends from elementary school made together. The other girls had all practically forgotten it existed.

"It was about a year and a half ago that Julie made a contract. She was new to the area and made a wish that she would make some friends. The next day she was the most popular girl in school. The girls and I noticed her hairclip had a gem in the centre of it and pulled her aside to ask her about it. When she realised that we were Magical Girls too we became friends immediately. She always seemed weaker than the rest of us. Beebe told me that it was because we had made wishes to help other people – or animals in my case – whereas Julie had made a 'selfish' wish. During the fight with the witch where I saw Madoka, Julie died. The other girls remember it as she was killed by a surprise blow from a distortion. We had to tell her parents a bear attacked her. He mom, dad and little sister moved away not long after."

Homura sat quietly, taking this all in. Sammy looked up at her.

"What about you?" she asked. "How did you get roped into all this?"

Homura opened her mouth to tell her but Emma walked in.

"Girls? It's pretty late. Homura should probably get to bed now."

Sammy translated and Homura nodded. Both Sammy and Emma showed her to the guest room. It was about the same size as Sammy's room, the bed covers the same as those on Sammy's bed. There was a small wardrobe where Sammy's desk was in her room, and a large plastic box stuffed to the brim with soft toys.

"They're mine from when I was a kid," Sammy explained, pointing to the box. "I couldn't bear to throw them out."

Sammy let Homura borrow a pair of pyjamas, pink with little cartoon ice creams on it, and both her and Emma bid her goodnight. Homura quickly changed into the pyjamas, hung her school uniform up in the wardrobe and flicked the light off before getting into the bed. It didn't take her long to fall asleep.

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**Again, sorry this was mostly backstory. Better stuff soon, I promise! And a lot faster than it took me to get this up! Please review!**


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